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“Apologies, Master.” I bobbed a curtsey, staying down a beat longer than necessary to allow him another eyeful of my cleavage.
Before I drifted back out of earshot, Master Nicolo returned to his conversation with Prince Balduin.
“I’m not convinced of his loyalty,” he said.
“He’s a Duke, Nicolo,” the prince responded.
“Does that automatically make him loyal?”
The prince tossed a grape into the air and caught it in his mouth. “He knows which side his bread is buttered.”
“You need to be careful,” Nicolo argued.
Balduin patted his friend on the shoulder. “You’re careful enough for the both of us.” He looked around, and I hurriedly shuffled back so they wouldn’t realize I’d been eavesdropping, keeping my head lowered all the while.
When I brought my gaze back up again, I found both Prince Balduin and Master Nicolo staring at me. I swallowed hard, something which wasn’t an act.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen that maid before,” Balduin said as he appreciated my more obvious… assets.
“Nor have I,” Nicolo answered and by the sound of his voice, he was less than interested. Yet, his attention remained on me. As did the prince’s.
“Very… attractive,” commented Balduin, talking about me as if I weren’t standing there, not five feet away from him. “I don’t believe I’ve seen hair such a flaxen color before,” he continued. “And that white skin leads me to believe her nipples would be the color of the roses in my garden.”
Nicolo said nothing, but his eyes travelled from my feet, up my body, pausing at my breasts, before arriving at my eyes. He seemed to approve, but it was hard to tell with the master, who gave away nothing. Even if he liked what he saw, it didn’t necessarily make me something special; Nicolo and Balduin were both known to have an eye for the ladies.
More than an eye, in fact.
Based on the stories I’d heard in the maids’ dormitory, I wouldn’t be the first to catch their attention—the prince treated the maidservants like a fruit tree, to be plucked whenever he was hungry. Many of the girls were quite proud of these encounters and kept a tally scratched on the dormitory’s wooden walls, creating an unofficial hierarchy of favorites.
I didn’t intend to be one of those tallies but with the way the prince was staring at me, that might prove to be difficult.
The first course finished, I hurried forward with the other maids to clear away the detritus of plates, knives, discarded bones and so on. Perhaps I leaned a little further than necessary across Master Nicolo to pick up his plates, allowing my chest to brush lightly against his arm.
“Apologies, Master,” I whispered with what I hoped was a coquettish smile (I had practiced it in the mirror).
“No need to apologize.” There was that voice again.
“And what of my plates?” the prince said as he reached forward and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me towards him and tugging me into his lap. Then he looked at his friend. “She smells heavenly… of… what is that arresting scent? Lilies?”
“Jasmine, my lord,” I said in a soft voice as I kept my eyes trained to the floor. The jasmine oil had done exactly as I’d intended.
“Nicolo, smell her,” Balduin said as he reached for his friend who wore the same expression he had since first seeing me. “She smells like Spring itself.”
“I believe you,” Nicolo said on that dagger of a smile.
“Your plates have been cleared, my lord,” I peeped as I tried to pull myself from Balduin’s lap. He released me with a nod and another longing gaze at my breasts.
“So, they have been.” Once I was able to free myself, I immediately carried the dishes to the kitchen and left them there before returning to my post behind Nicolo and against the wall.
“My sister is trying to catch your attention, Nicolo,” said Prince Balduin.
“Which?” asked Nicolo.
“Laurel. Her husband is busy talking and she takes the opportunity to make eyes at you. Really, she’s so gauche, you’d think a princess would be a bit more… refined.”
Nicolo looked at Balduin’s sister. “She appears embarrassed.”
“Well, it must be difficult to flirt with you when you’re sitting next to her brother and you’re twenty feet away.” He then glanced back at me. “And when you’re surrounded by much more… desirable maids.”
